Problem of a Plenty
In April 2024, exports of textiles and apparel (T&A) from India witnessed a rise of 0.89 per cent to $ 2.776 billion compared with April 2023. Though nominal growth, it gave an indication towards positive growth trajectory for the sector which has been struggling to increase overseas trade throughout 2023-24. India’s T&A cumulative exports in the previous fiscal year registered a de-growth of 3.24 per cent at $ 34.4 billion, as compared to $ 35.5 billion in FY 2022-23.
For example, knitwear exports from Tiruppur, which has been facing a slump in demand for more than a year, witnessed a growth of 6.4 per cent and 5.5 per cent respectively in February and March 2024. Last year, the decline in orders forced almost 20 per cent of MSME exporters in Tiruppur to shut their shops. As a result, the existing units are now running to full capacity to meet the orders and are also planning capacity additions. With small retailers in Europe exhausting their inventory, demand is expected to grow further.
Amid this euphoria, the textile clusters in Tamil Nadu are now facing a new challenge – shortage of workers. According to experts, Tiruppur is experiencing almost 20 per cent labour stortage when factories are slowly increasing production with indications of revival of orders. Rising labour wages is also a cause of concern before textile firms. The industry will have to find a solution to this issue at the earliest with demand (domestic as well as overseas) likely to pick-up further, needing for more workers.
With the new Union government assuming office in June 2024, stakeholders expect sustained support to bolster the textile and apparels industry. In the interim budget 2024-25 (presented on February 1, 2024), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the allocation to the textile sector by 27.60 per cent to ₹ 4,3.93 billion. The industry would like this to increase further when the regular budget is presented by the new government. With India expected to sign a sleeve of free trade agreements with countries like the UK, Oman, EU, etc, Indian T&A makers will be competitive and hence, large global retailers are already looking for suppliers in India for giving orders.
Meanwhile, despite prevailing geo-political challenges, Indian exporters are looking at enhancing their international business by expanding into new and non-traditional markets. One such country is Türkiye (earlier known as Turkey), which is the largest market for India’s spinning, twisting and yarn preparation machines. Türkiye remains the second-largest market (after Bangladesh) for Indian textile machines, with exports totaling $ 104.52 million in 2023.
ITM 2024 (to be held from 4-8 June 2024 at Istanbul) will present an ideal platform for Indian companies to explore new alliances and expand their business.
